Will Northeast MI ever receive 3G?

Will Northeast MI ever receive 3G?

I've heard talk about how ATT is "working on their network coverage" and plans to provide 3G service in Northeast MI "in the coming months". Well, now that another 2 year contract has expired, I'm seriously wondering if I would be better off jumping to Verizon. The EDGE data network up here if virtually useless. 5 full bars, yet extremely poor data transfer.

Can anyone provide an HONEST answer as to when this coverage is planned to be upgraded??? Verizon has had 3G for quite a long while up here...

Re: Will Northeast MI ever receive 3G?

I feel for you good folks up there. What sucks is the fact that Verizon has statewide 3G and will have complete 4G LTE coverage next year but looking at their actual coverage map for voice/3G/LTE they have A LOT of non coverage areas. In the U.P. and northeast MI especially there are WAY TOO MANY white areas of no service. AT&T has better coverage in those areas but the data service isn't worth a dodo so it is a tough call which carrier to stay with if phone service is more important than data. What is unbelievable is the fact that there is no Verizon service and very shotty AT&T service in and around Garland Golf Course in Lewiston.

Re: Will Northeast MI ever receive 3G?

Well I had a big go around with AT&T C.S. today regarding wireless service. I gave my dad my old HTC Inspire last month because his older Motorola flip phone was shot. I simply put his 3G SIM into the Inspire, and turned mobile data OFF because he doesn't use it at all. Well today he got his new bill and AT&T added $35 a month on top of his $50+ normal bill and took it upon themselves to reset his account and he lost ALL of his 2000+ rollover minutes. C.S. said that they can't do anything about it and their policy is you MUST have a data plan on a smartphone even if you don't get the phone from AT&T or use mobile data. So basically if someone buys a smartphone on Ebay or is givin a used phone for example, and wants to enjoy all the features and will only use wifi instead of mobile data, AT&T says you can't do that. And on top of that my ma has the same phone and is paying for a 2GB plan, and this past week AT&T pushed an update that stops you from turning mobile data OFF. When you uncheck mobile data it quickly resets and turns back on. So they load your phone up with bloatware that always wants to update and sync which is a waste YOUR data. [Please keep it courteous]. I'm done!! There are 5 of us that are dropping them and getting Verizon this week. AT&T launched 3G in Detroit in 2006 and yet northeast MI is still on USELESS EDGE??? That shows you what they think of their customers. I don't care if they launched LTE Advanced in Lewiston tomorrow....they are done. Even though I upgraded my phone recently I am going to GLADLY pay the ETF and be done with them!!!!

Re: Will Northeast MI ever receive 3G?

It is because ATT does not own those markets, it is companies like Dobson and one other that owns them. Dobson as a roaming agreement carrier has refused to do anything with their cellular network, dating even as far back as 2002, when data type services started to come about.

Under their agreement with ATT as a roaming carrier, they are only required under FCC rules and regulations to have within reasonable cellular voice coverage. Add to that you have a large area of the U.P. covered by a National forest, the government along with the Indian tribes are not going to put up Cellular towrs to give out seasonal coverage, or coverage to maybe 1-2 percent that are actual ATT customers.

I remember when ATT started the whole GSM/Gait thing. Dobson forever sat on their hands, and had only AMPs radios in 99% of their towers. The other 1% was a mix of AMPS and TDMA, not even SMS was allowed.

The fact is that AT&T bought Dobson's systems and have literally upgraded maybe 40% of the coverage footprint to basic 3G. AT&T has simply ignored the rest of the network. For the sake of other readers on this forum, please do more research before you post something to verify your statement is correct.

Re: Will Northeast MI ever receive 3G?

@gregzoll_1Like Tpeltz stated, AT&T does own the network in northern Mi including the U.P. and the fact that there are Indian tribes and National Forests have nothing to do with the network now being two generations behind. Putting up new towers are not necessary, but rather network investment in antenna and hardware upgrades at existing cell sites and the biggest issue is fiber/microwave backhaul which they are far behind in. The big issue with me against AT&T is this.....if you have a voice and texting plan then you should be able to use your SIM card in ANY phone that AT&T has especially if you pay full price for the phone without being clipped for a data plan. A contract is supposed to be an agreement between two parties...not everything 100% in one sides favor. Thats OK, there are five people in my family that AT&T is losing.

Re: Will Northeast MI ever receive 3G?

@ Tpeltz

Nice. Now I have seen many Verizon speedtests from around my home area of Romeo/Almont running up around 60 Mb/s down and 20 up. Thats near the towers but still that is fast. I looked at the specs on the new HTC Droid DNA and in the network bands they have added PCS to the standard LTE, and Evdo RevA. LTE Advanced I would guess??

Re: Will Northeast MI ever receive 3G?

Tpeltz, it still comes down to it, that money will not be invested into that area. They see it as a low use of data, only voice calls on the majority. And at that, you have a large swate of the U.P. that is unpopulated, or only sees a small increase of population during the Summer.

Face it, the U.P. is lucky to even have cellular available, along with high or should I say low speed Internet for landline consumers.

Re: Will Northeast MI ever receive 3G?

@gregzoll_1

I see your point but it's not just about small populations anymore. MANY people travel all over the state...including the U.P....on business or vacationing. Many more than you realize.If there wasn't decent customer usage then do you think Verizon would invest in upgrades across their entire network statewide? If AT&T would rollout HSPA+ statewide then their customer base would grow even in the U.P. AT&T now has 4 cities in Puerto Rico with LTE service while areas like Alpena, Grayling, Houghton/Higgins Lake, and especially 1/4 of the I-75 corridor that are still on Edge. To me that is a slap in the face to the loyal customers that have been promised 3G since 2007.

Re: Will Northeast MI ever receive 3G?

Lewyman, to give you an example, you can travel I-39 in Illinois, and once you leave Normal, IL, until you get to around the Rockford area, you are on Edge. Then when you leave the Madison, WI area, again you go to Edge, never seeing 3G, unless you are in Steven's Point. And even it is for about a mile or two along I-39/US-51 and then you are left with Edge.

The average bars you see in the majority of the U.P. where we go, you are lucky to even get 3 bars, most times it is 1 bar, and always Edge.

Even at my workplace in Springfield, IL, you walk around the six block area around it, you get nothing but Edge. Once you leave that tower footprint, then it goes back to 3G.

Face it, ATT is not putting the money into the network as they promised they were, back when they were making the statements 3 years ago that they were going to grow to meet consumer demand.

Re: Will Northeast MI ever receive 3G?

@gregzoll_1

Well I agree with you. That is the point of this thread. AT&T has not invested in upgrading their network in northeast Michigan incuding the U.P., as well as many other rural parts of the country. If it wasn't profitable than Verizon wouldn't be upgrading their entire network to 4G. I switched to Big Red this past Thursday and now have the HTC Droid DNA. Its a superfast phone but what really makes it enjoyable to use it on the super fast LTE network....not a retro 2G network(EDGE).

Re: Will Northeast MI ever receive 3G?

I just got the Droid DNA as well and love it. I was with Ameritech/SBC/Cingular/AT&T since the early '90s but just switched to Verizon. If AT&T ever upgrades their network NATIONWIDE I would consider switching back. Until then I am not paying $$$ for a phone and data plan that doesn't work in northern Mi where I spend quite a bit of time.